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What to eat in Aquitaine? Top 5 Aquitain Raw Milk Cheeses

Last update: Sat Feb 15 2025
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Best Aquitain Raw Milk Cheese Types

01

Cheese

PYRÉNÉES-ATLANTIQUES, France
4.2
Ossau-Iraty
Ossau-Iraty infographic
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Ossau-Iraty is an uncooked, pressed, semi-hard cheese made from sheep's milk from the Pyrenees mountain range. Small cheeses of this sort must mature for 60 days, while the standard-sized Ossau-Iraty matures for at least 90 days. Underneath its moldy, iron-gray rind hides an ivory-colored body that is somewhat granular and creamy in its texture and melts very easily.


The flavors are rich and robust - reminiscent of nuts and toasted wheat, sweet and slightly grassy. Ossau-Iraty is so unique that it has a status of one of the first cheeses that were ever produced and is commended as one of the cheeses easiest to pair. 
THE BEST Ossau-Iraty Cheeses
1 Ossau Iraty Matocq
Fromagerie Matocq
Ossau Iraty Matocq

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World Cheese Awards - Super Gold 2021

2 AOP Ossau - Iraty Grande Reserve
Onetik
AOP Ossau - Iraty Grande Reserve

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Concours International de Lyon - Gold 2025

3 Ossau-Iraty
Fromagerie Androuet
Ossau-Iraty

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4 Ossau-Iraty
Barthélémy
Ossau-Iraty

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5
Ferme Burubeltx
Fromage Burubeltx

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Concours International de Lyon - Gold 2025

02

Cheese

LARUNS, France
n/a
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Laruns is a French cheese hailing from the region of Laruns. The cheese is primarily made from raw sheep's milk and it's sometimes left to age for up to 6 months before consumption. It can also be made from goat's and cow's milk. Underneath its natural rind, the texture is hard, brittle, and firm.


The aromas are mild, while the flavors are mild, nutty, sweet, acidic, and salty when young, becoming more intense with age. It's recommended to serve young Laruns as a table cheese, while the aged one is good for cooking.

03
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Abbaye de Belloc is a traditional semi-hard cheese produced by Benedictine monks in the Western Pyrénées. The cheese is made from the sheep's milk of a local red-nosed breed of ewes. Its texture is firm, dense, creamy, and rich.


The flavors are sweet, mild, and similar to burnt caramel, and there is a distinctive aroma of lanolin. The natural crusty, greyish-brown rind is inedible. Abbaye de Belloc matures from 4 to 10 months, but it's believed that the cheese is best around 6 months of aging. 
04

Cheese

DORDOGNE, France
n/a
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Margotin is a traditional cheese hailing from Perigord. The cheese is made from a combination of raw goat's and cow's milk. The texture is soft, yet firm underneath its natural rind, while the color is pale yellow. Margotin comes in a few versions where it's enriched with pepper or herbs, so the aromas can be herbal and pepper, and the flavor delicate yet spicy.


The most popular version is called Margotin au poivre, which is enriched with pepper.

05

Cheese

PYRÉNÉES-ATLANTIQUES, France
n/a
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Esquirrou is a hard French cheese made from sheep's milk, produced in Pyrénées-Atlantiques and in the cities of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It is a smaller version of Ossau-Iraty cheese. The texture of Esquirrou is slightly elastic, while the flavors are nutty, fruity, herbaceous if the produce is from winter, while the summer versions reveal aromas of flowers and grass.


The name of the cheese means bell, referring to the sheep's accessories. It is produced at Mauleon Fromagerie by Michel Touyarou. Esquirrou won the 2018 World Championship Cheese Contest held at Madison, Wisconsin, where it had bested 3,402 other cheeses.

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Aquitain Raw Milk Cheeses